Stocking



July 13, 1943. A X DESMONDS 324,256

STOCKING Filed Jaim.y 18, 1941 u @MFL WMV H YH* Umjbf/Qjbm Ui hymn A Hum m Hmmm Lid/f @um wm wwf? @ma if Emmi Mmmm/TM Uk X E T mg W gw H I KU@kJ-f-/ INVENTOR.

L) J l l Patented July 13, 1943 STOCKING Albert X. Desmonds,Indianapolis, Ind., assigner to Real Silk Hosiery Mills, Inc.,Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Illinois Application January 18,1941, Serial No. 374,983

1 Claim.

My invention relates to hosiery, particularly to womens hosiery knit ontwo machines, a legger and a footer. More specifically, my inventionrelates'to the formation of a stocking heel and has for its object theprovision of a smooth, round heel which will fit the foot well and whichcan be simply and economically formed.

In carrying out my invention, I knit the leg of the stocking on afull-fashion knitting machine, forming the leg with heel-tabs extendingbeyond the last course of knitting of the front or center portion of theleg-blank, the lower portions of such heel-tabs being narrowed,preferably by inward transfer of stitches in a manner set forth morespecifically hereinafter. The leg blank thus formed is transferred tothe footer, the last course of stitches in the leg-front, an inner Waleof stitches adjacent the front edge of each heel-tab, and the lastcourse of stitches in each heel-tab being topped on to a single row ofneedles in the footer. The foot is then knit in any desired pattern, therst course o-f stitches in the foot joining integrally With the stitchesof those courses and Wales of the leg and heel portions topped on to thefooter needles.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a viewillustrating the characteristics of the lower end of the leg portion ofa stocking blank ready for transference to the footer; Fig. 2 shows, infull lines, the condition of the leg-blank after being topped on to thefooter and, in dotted lines, the foot portion subsequently to be knit;Fig. 3 is a fragmental diagrammatic View on an enlarged scale showingstitches of the left-hand heel-tab and adjoining portions of the legblank; and Fig. 4 is a fragmental View, somewhat idealized, of a nishedstocking as stretched upon a at form showing in light lines thedirection in which the wales run in the nished heel.

In practicing my invention, the leg portion I!! of the stocking blank isknit in any desired manner to the course indicated in Fig. l by thedotted line A-A. Knitting is then continued at each side of the blank toform a heel-tab II which, beginning with the course B-B, is narrowedtoward its lower end, desirably by the inward transfer of stitches in agroup of wales along the outer edge of the heel-tab. In the knitting ofthe leg portion of the blank, reinforcing threads are incorporated,preferably throughout the entire extent of each heel-tab and also for adistance above and inwardly from the heel-tabs at the sides of theblank.

Desirably, the inward transfer of stitches which results in narrowingthe heel-tab below the course B-B is not uniform throughout the extentof the narrowed portion of the heel-tab. Instead, I prefer to begin thenarrowing rather gradually down to an intermediate course C-C of theheeltab to form an oblique line of fashion marks I3 and then to increasethe rate of narrowing from the course C-C to the last course D-D of theheel-tab to form a second line of fashion marks I4 of greater Obliquity.By way of example, the narrowing down to the course C-C may be effectedby transferring the stitches in an outer set of wales for a distance ofone wale at alternate courses, while the narrowing between courses C-Cand D-D may be effected by transferring stitches for a distance of oneWale at every course.

The proportions and shape of the heel-tab may vary as desired, butordinarily the lower end of the heel-tab at the course D-D should have awidth of between ten and twenty wales. For a reason which will becomeapparent hereinafter, the line of fashion marks I4 should meet the lastheel-tab course D-D at a distance of several wales from the innermarginal edge of the heeltab.

At the front, -or center, of the blank and between the heel-tabs I mayknit extra courses of stitches of independent thread or threads to forma raveling tab I5. Similar raveling tabs I6 may be knit below the courseD-D of each of the heel tabs II. With completion of the raveling tabsI6, the leg portion of the stocking blank is finished and ready f-ortransfer to the footer.

In transferring the leg portion of the stocking blank to the footer, the,center portion of the course A-A between the heel tabs, the innermarginal edges of the two heel-tabs, and the last courses D-D of therespective heel-tabs are brought into substantial ali-nement, and theleg portion of the blank is topped on to a row of needles 20 in thefooter. 'Ihe stitches topped on tothe needles 2G at each side of the legblank are those intercepted by the broken line X-X in Fig. 3 andcomprise, first, the stitches in course D-D of the left-hand heel-tabfrom the outer edge thereof to a Wale (indicated at w-w) between thelower end of the row of fashion marks I4 and the inner marginal edge ofthe heel-tab; second, the stitches in the Wale w-w between the courseD--D and the course A-A; third, the stitches in course A`A between theWale w-w and the corresponding Wale in the right-hand heel-tab; fourth,the stitches in that corresponding Wale from course A-A to course D-D;and fifth, the stitches lying outwardly of such corresponding wale incourse D--D of the righthand heel-tab. This leaves the raveling tab I5,

the two raveling tabs I and the marginal edges 2| of the two heel-tabsprojecting beyo-nd the row of needles 2%. The ravel tabs l5 and IB maynow be unraveled; and the footer is then operated to finish the foot.

While the foot 22 may take any desired form, I prefer to knit it for anumber of courses of full width from the outer corner of one heel-tab tothe outer corner of the other, and then narrow it for a succeeding groupof courses by inward transference of the stitches in a `set of wales atthe sides of the foot, such inward transference leaving a row fashionmarks 23. In the knitting of the foot, reinforcing threads are desirablyincorporated along the sides of the blank.

When the knitting of the foot has been completed, the marginal edges ofthe blank are sevved together to form a seam 24, as shown in Fig. 4, thetoe portion of the foot being closed by the usual looping process.

The application of the sides of the heel-tabs I I to the needles 2i) isfacilitated if the Wale which is to receive those needles is first splitor spread in order to make easier the insertion of the needles of thetopping loa-r. Obviously, it would be more difficult to spread anextreme marginal-Wale than a Wale which is spaced a slight distance fromthe margin; and it is for this reason that the heelmtab wales applied tothe needles 20 of the footer are not the extreme marginal Wales of theheel-talos but instead are wales, such as the Wale w-w of Fig. 3, spacedfor a short distance from each extreme inner Wale.

t is also of advantage in applying the inner side edges of the heel tabsto the footer if the Wale to be split for application to the footerneedles is not crossed by any transferred stitches. It is for thisreason that I perfer, as pointed out above, to so form the heel tabsthat the line of fashion marks I4 will meet the last course D -D of eachheel-tab at a point spaced outwardly from the inner marginal edge of theheel tab, in order that there may be between the lowermost fashion markand the innei` marginal edge of the heel-tab a few intervening Waleswhich contain no fashion marks. In practice, I prefer to terminate theline of fashion marks I4 at the fourth Wale from the inner marginal edgeof the heel-tab, split the third Wale (w-w from the inner edge oi' theheel-tab, and apply the stitches of that Wale to the needles 20 of thefooter.

I claim as my invention:

lull-fashioned knit stocking blank, comprising a leg portion and a footportion, said leg portion including heel-tabs each of which is narrowedtoward its lower end by the inward transfer or outer Wales to leave arow of fashion marks the stitches of one of such intervening Wales ineach heel-tab, with the stitches of the last course of the centerportion of the leg portion between the heel-tabs, and with the stitchesof the last course of each heel-tab, said blank including inwardly fromeach said row of fashion marks one or more wales which extendcontinuously without a fashion mark through the heel tab and into saidfoot portion.

ALBERT X. DESMONDS.

